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Title: Court victory legalizes 3D-printable gun blueprints
Source:
TechCrunch
URL Source: https://techcrunch.com/
Published: Jul 10, 2018
Author: Devin Coldewey
Post Date: 2018-07-11 11:23:07 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 5447
Comments: 30
A multi-year legal battle over the ability to distribute computer models of gun parts and replicate them in 3D printers has ended in defeat for government authorities who sought to prevent the practice. Cody Wilson, the gunmaker and free speech advocate behind the lawsuit, now intends to expand his operations, providing printable gun blueprints to all who desire them.
The longer story of the lawsuit is well told by Andy Greenberg over at Wired, but the decision is eloquent on its own. The fundamental question is whether making 3D models of gun components available online is covered by the free speech rights granted by the First Amendment.
This is a timely but complex conflict because it touches on two themes that happen to be, for many, ethically contradictory. Arguments for tighter restrictions on firearms are, in this case, directly opposed to arguments for the unfettered exchange of information on the internet. It’s hard to advocate for both here: restricting firearms and restricting free speech are one and the same.
That at least seems to be conclusion of the government lawyers, who settled Wilson’s lawsuit after years of court battles. In a copy of the settlement provided to me by Wilson, the U.S. government agrees to exempt “the technical data that is the subject of the Action” from legal restriction. The modified rules should appear in the Federal Register soon.
What does this mean? It means that a 3D model that can be used to print the components of a working firearm is legal to own and legal to distribute. You can likely even print it and use the product — you just can’t sell it. There are technicalities to the law here (certain parts are restricted, but can be sold in an incomplete state, etc.), but the implications as regards the files themselves seems clear.
Wilson’s original vision, which he is now pursuing free of legal obstacles, is a repository of gun models, called DEFCAD, much like any other collection of data on the web, though naturally considerably more dangerous and controversial.
“I currently have no national legal barriers to continue or expand DEFCAD,” he wrote in an email to TechCrunch. “This legal victory is the formal beginning to the era of downloadable guns. Guns are as downloadable as music. There will be streaming services for semi-automatics.”
The concepts don’t map perfectly, no doubt, but it’s hard to deny that with the success of this lawsuit, there are few legal restrictions to speak of on the digital distribution of firearms. Before it even, there were few technical restrictions: certainly just as you could download MP3s on Napster in 2002, you can download a gun file today.
Gun control advocates will no doubt argue that greater availability of lethal weaponry is the opposite of what is needed in this country. But others will point out that in a way this is a powerful example of how liberally free speech can be defined. It’s important to note that both of these things can be true.
This court victory settles one case, but marks the beginnings of many another. “I have promoted my values for years with great care and diligence,” Wilson wrote. It’s hard to disagree with that. Those whose values differ are free to pursue them in their own way; perhaps they too will be awarded victories of this scale. (1 image)
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#1. To: Deckard, Gatlin, Liberator, sneakypete (#0) (Edited)
I'm afraid your article does scarce justice to this major story. Cody Wilson is the most awesome Second Amendment activist in the country. He's a crypto-anarchist, what Gatlin would confusedly describe as a libertarian.
DailyWire: DOJ Settles In Landmark Gun Suit, Safeguarding The Second Amendment
 In 2013, hot-shot crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson warned the world that downloadable guns were imminent and gun control as we know it, a mere fantasy. Some five years later, fresh off a huge effective win against the State Department — which allows for Wilson to post his 3D-printable gun files online, "communist style," as he calls it — Wilson says gun control is officially dead. And he killed her. "I barely put a million bucks into this and I got you the Second Amendment forever," he boasted to The Daily Wire in a phone interview. "What has the NRA done for you lately?" Due to the terms of the surprising settlement of the United States government, Wilson can begin posting his open-source technical data, including files for every gun up to .50 caliber available through commerce, on July 27. An irrevocable content dump, according to Wilson, which renders gun control efforts increasingly futile. Moreover, in the settlement, "the government expressly acknowledges that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber – including modern semi-auto sporting rifles such as the popular AR-15 and similar firearms – are not inherently military," notes a press release from the Second Amendment Foundation. In other words, the handful of liberal states that currently ban "assault weapons" like the AR-15, such as New York state via the SAFE Act, could potentially face legal challenges.
For some context, Wilson first exploded onto the scene with his invention of the Liberator, the world’s first functioning 3D-printed gun named after the iconic WWII weapon intended to arm the disarmed masses. Wilson, then just 25, dropped his open-source gun files online and quickly earned himself the uncomfortable position of being in the crosshairs of the federal government, a position he seemingly intentionally provoked. The crypto-anarchist was warned by the feds that he needed "permission" to post his gun files — speech that was treated as an export — and told that the files were likely in violation of the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations). Thus, Wilson was effectively forced to shut down his lucrative site defcad.com, where the files were hosted and being quickly downloaded. With the looming pressure from State, Wilson’s then-lawyer told him to shut his mouth, tuck tail, and forget his naïve gun adventures. "My conversations were, literally, ‘Hey, how long until I have to go to jail,'" Wilson told The Daily Wire. But Wilson, reading the tea leaves from a slow-moving and non-committal federal government, thought he might have a First Amendment argument and a shot at winning a suit against State. Wilson found new heavyweight legal representation and took that very expensive shot by filing suit in May of 2015. Some three years later, Wilson’s stamina and "stupid, stubborn will" won out; the Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement in April, which was formalized in June. State abandoned their position and served up a huge First and Second Amendment win. "Not only is this a First Amendment victory for free speech, it also is a devastating blow to the gun prohibition lobby," said Alan M. Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. To Wilson, this is the "hardest backstop" yet to the Second Amendment, and the final nail in the gun control coffin. Never one to shy away from the dramatic, Wilson quite literally buried "American Gun Control" with his team at Ghost Gunner, a company run by the 30-year-old that leads the industry in DIY gun-making CNC milling machines — a project initially started to fund his suit. Wilson arguably has a penchant for over-selling (at least at the launch of his many projects), but he’s not wrong about gun control as we know it. "This doesn’t put the rifle in everyone’s hand, but it does that in essence. The DNA of our culture is preserved," he explained. "This is the first pillar in the internet gun culture of tomorrow, and it is permanent." Wilson emphasized that this can’t be regulated in any meaningful way. "Anything that makes it through my organization now, becomes public domain material, irrevocably so," he said. "I’m the Shepard ... and I’m going to put any and everything up." And Defense Distributed, a nonprofit organization founded by Wilson that maintains defcad.com, will only help to accelerate gun culture online via their open-source content, standing as a reference resource and model for customization. "It’s kinda like GitHub for guns," he said. "People aren’t reinventing the wheel every day," explained Wilson. "Now we help to accelerate our culture, beyond just an encyclopedic interest. People now have a beginning point; they can begin to develop models based off our models, or new models that integrate with the models." Wilson expects political resistance, though he says it will be sluggish. "Could Trump be bothered to care? I don’t know. And this is all signed off by DOJ. They can’t just, on a dime, stop it." Of course, this has a global impact, too. Once these files are online, and now formally so, all with an uncensored Internet have access. Depending on how you view guns generally and choose to frame Wilson’s win, this could mean more global access to self-defense, or further aid to criminals and foreign enemies. Other countries have taken notice of Wilson. For example, the liberal pinnacle of gun control, Australia, began preemptively cracking down on gun files in 2015. An Australian in possession of such a file could face up to 14 years behind bars. Asked if he has any moral reservations about the approved technology, specifically as these downloadable and untraceable guns become more efficiently produced and thus more common, Wilson simply stated, "No, I don't." "Ghost Gunner taught me a lot," he elaborated. "It continues to be very difficult to accurately reproduce a lot of this stuff," he added, acknowledging that what he's helped to build will fall short of this most intense "fevered vision" of a dystopian society flooded with digital and untraceable guns. Whatever your views on Wilson, you can’t knock his dedication to his ideals. In an interview with Wired published on Tuesday, Wilson revealed that he’s willing to be a literal "sacrifice" for his cause. Actually, he was planning to be if (or as he thought at the time, when) Hillary Clinton had taken the White House in 2016 and enacted the crackdown on the Second Amendment she promised. If Hillary had won, Wilson told Wired that "he was ready to launch his Defcad repository, regardless of the outcome of his lawsuit, and then defend it in an armed standoff." "I’d call a militia out to defend the server, Bundy-style," said Wilson, referencing the Bundy family cattle ranches who took on the feds in 2014. "Our only option was to build an infrastructure where we had one final suicidal mission, where we dumped everything into the internet." One thing is clear, the Second Amendment and the global right to self-defense is more enshrined today than it was mere months ago because of Wilson’s radical, and perhaps irrational, dedication. |
#2. To: Tooconservative (#1) (Edited)
Bundy-style,
Squatting his Mormon tribal cows on land that doesn't belong to him... that kind of "style"?
Super geniuses with a gun fetish should redirect a few of their limited number of firing dendrites toward pondering why the 2nd amendment protects the 1st - so that state-establishments like Mormonism don't grift folks into tyrannical servitude.
#3. To: VxH (#2)
Cody Wilson is far more radical than the Bundys.
#4. To: Tooconservative (#3)
"He has indicated that although his primary goal is the subversion of state-structures, he also hopes that his contributions may help to dismantle the existing system of capitalist property relations"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi ki/Cody_Wilson
"So anyways, at about the 6:22 mark Cody is shown assembling a rifle with some of his open source 3D-printed parts. I noticed a red and black book with a bearded old guy on the front, on the same counter top. Seemed like interesting coffee table reads, so after clicking the button to go full HD, I actually made out the title (thanks 1080p!). Introduction to Marxist Political Economy."
http://en.internationalism.org/forum/1056/jamal/10036/curious- political-philosophy-cody-wilson
Big surprise. Not.
#5. To: Tooconservative (#1)
Cody Wilson is the most awesome Second Amendment activist in the country. He's a crypto-anarchist, what Gatlin would confusedly describe as a libertarian.
A 1a feel-good story...
Gatlin and the ACLU hate this 3D invention. For obvious reasons.
For some context, Wilson first exploded onto the scene with his invention of the Liberator, the world’s first functioning 3D-printed gun named after the iconic WWII weapon intended to arm the disarmed masses.
But...but...I thought he named his invention after me. :-(
(I've also used the moniker in observance and respect of the B-24 Liberator bomber.)
#6. To: VxH (#4)
Seemed like interesting coffee table reads, so after clicking the button to go full HD, I actually made out the title (thanks 1080p!). Introduction to Marxist Political Economy."
Interesting catch.
#7. To: Tooconservative, VxH (#1)
If Hillary had won, Wilson told Wired that "he was ready to launch his Defcad repository, regardless of the outcome of his lawsuit, and then defend it in an armed standoff."
Anyone who opposed Hitlery's plans to turn the US Gummint into her own private/total police state can't be all that bad.
#8. To: Liberator (#6)
[(Speaking about violent social upheaval) I don't want people to die. Why would I want people do die? It's not even a Leninist, "Well, you gotta break some eggs." That's not my attitude about it."
"Look, I respect Lenin and his place in history. But that's a callous attitude."]
Well, that's nice.
He's got the ears of the commies twitching - read the comments:
http://en.internationalism.org/forum/1056/jamal/10036/curious- political-philosophy-cody-wilson
#9. To: Liberator (#7)
Hitlery's plans
Her internationalist role is to manufacture division and CRISIS - the phase of ideological subversion Bezmenov said would precede normalization.
#10. To: VxH (#8)
He's got the ears of the commies twitching - read the comments
Yes, but that's only wishful thinking on their part; IMO Wilson would never actually throw in with them.
#11. To: VxH (#9)
Her internationalist role is to manufacture division and CRISIS - the phase of ideological subversion Bezmenov said would precede normalization.
True...
But beyond that whole NWO ruse and plan, SHE believes she's a Queen, some kind of Royalty. (Yes, like the 0bamas.)
#12. To: Liberator, VxH (#6)
Introduction to Marxist Political Economy."
Well, the inventor of the AK-47, Mikhail Kalashnikov was a Russian General, no doubt a loyal Marxist/Communist.
Seems to me that the pedigree of the inventor shouldn't even be an issue.
I don't see where Cody Wilson is marketing his blueprints solely to Marxists. As far as I'm concerned - this is one more way to avoid having your guns confiscated and keep them off the gooberment radar.
Of course, the NSA will most certainly be flagging the IP address, name, phone number, picture, criminal record, political beliefs, and every other bit of information on anyone who downloads the plans.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#13. To: VxH, Liberator (#8)
He's got the ears of the commies twitching - read the comments:
He's a kinder, gentler Marxist-Leninist. Not some stuffy old genocidal Stalinesque patriarch.
But he is a crypto-anarchist and that is a thing far closer to the Left than to the Right. In general terms, he is a Left-libertarian.
Wilson could be one of the greatest figures in the history of American gun manufacture. Yes, along with the biggest names in firearms history. Even if he comes close to qualifying as a commie. But his fetish for personal defense and guns in the hands of the people is in deep conflict with the kind of totalitarian means required to implement classic communist states.
#14. To: Deckard (#0)
This court victory settles one case....
What court victory? Defense Distributed lost in the District Court for the Western District of Texas and appealed to the 5th Circuit. They lost in the 5th Circuit. 20 Sep 2016. Rehearing was denied 15 March 2017. They petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for writ of cert, but that was denied 8 January 2018.
The 5th Circuit wrote that Defense Distributed sued "seeking to enjoin enforcement of certain laws governing the export of unclassified technical data relating to prohibited munitions. Because the district court concluded that the public interest in national security outweighs Plaintiffs-Appellants’ interest in protecting their constitutional rights, it denied a preliminary injunction, and they timely appealed. We conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion and therefore affirm." The case went back to the trial court in the Western District of Texas.
While Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation have published a press release about a settlement agreement and have declared victory, they have not published the settlement agreement, the DOJ does not appear to have said anything, and there is no claim that the court has accepted the settlement which does not appear on the Docket. The parties expect to conclude the settlement on or before August 4, 2018.
Claims of victory may be premature. Claims of court victory appear to be fake news.
A May 2, 2018 Docket entry reads, "Text Order GRANTING 93 Motion to Stay Case entered by Judge Robert Pitman. It is ORDERED that the parties file a report on the status of settlement within 60 days of this order. (This is a text−only entry generated by the court. There is no document associated with this entry.) (as) (Entered: 05/02/2018)"
A Joint Settlement Status Report, Doc 95 of 28 June 2018 reads,
JOINT SETTLEMENT STATUS REPORTPursuant to the Court’s May 2, 2018 Order Granting Defendants’ Motion to Stay Case [ECF 93], the parties file this report on the status of settlement in the above-captioned matter.
The parties report that Government officials with appropriate approval authority have approved the parties’ settlement agreement. Accordingly, Plaintiffs and Defendants expect to conclude the agreement and submit a stipulation for dismissal on or before August 4, 2018.
The parties expect to conclude the settlement on or before August 4, 2018.
#15. To: nolu chan (#14)
He hasn't won just yet but they are proceeding to settlement in Wilson's favor.
That's a win in anyone's book even if you don't like the result.
#16. To: Tooconservative (#13)
He is a crypto-anarchist and that is a thing far closer to the Left than to the Right. In general terms, he is a Left-libertarian...Even if he comes close to qualifying as a commie.But his fetish for personal defense and guns in the hands of the people is in deep conflict with the kind of totalitarian means required to implement classic communist states.
I'll have to agree on your general assessment of ID by technicality: "Cryto-anarchist"-Libertarian. Yup, he's positioned near the far end of that pool which is a political Wild Card. But in THIS case with the 2A at stake, these types of Libertarian would be allied with Conservatives and die on that hill.
As you note, there is ultimately a deep political/philosophical conflict here. His ilk may relate to the general Dem-Marxist ideal of "equality" but that context seems to limited to an "egalitarianism" that demands 2A Rights not be infringed by a Leftist Gummint's priority of disarming EVERYONE BUT THE LEFT.
Wilson could be one of the greatest figures in the history of American gun manufacture. Yes, along with the biggest names in firearms history.
These types of "figures" have tended to disappear before impact is made. But that was the past; The interweb has changed all that.
#17. To: Liberator (#16) (Edited)
These types of "figures" have tended to disappear before impact is made. But that was the past; The interweb has changed all that.
When Cody Wilson releases all his gun prototyping files at the end of the month, it changes everything. For decades to come. And not just in the States either.
This could be something larger than even the explosion of the AK-47 design across the world decades back. The world changed because of the firearms vision of just one man. Wilson could be that kind of guy.
Some of these guys have a motto: "I'm working to create a world in which gay couples protect their pot farms with fully automatic machine guns."
#18. To: Tooconservative, sneakypete, Itzlzha (#17) (Edited)
When Cody Wilson releases all his gun prototyping files at the end of the month, it changes everything. For decades to come. And not just in the States either.
Hear ya. Yes, WE can see that it's a potential Game-Changer. (IMO even more so in Europe where its fed-up population of impotent eunuchs have been deprive of even plastic butter knives).
The EU Elites who've condemned them to lives of fear, unable to protect themselves, an outlaw Wild West where barbarian and savage Muzzies are protected at the expense of the native citizenry...are presumably ON THE business-end of retribution.
How much frustration has been penned up in say...England?
This could be something larger than even the explosion of the AK-47 design across the world decades back. The world changed because of the firearms vision of just one man. Wilson could be that kind of guy.
Sure can. I definitely see it.
Q: WILL Wilson's "People's Weapon" -- his "Liberator" -- indeed be "allowed" to become released by the PTB in Europe and free them from the Iron Fist of authoritarian EU Elites? Remember -- in England a box of paper clips (the large ones) are considered WMD.
#19. To: Liberator (#18) (Edited)
Q: WILL Wilson's "People's Weapon" -- his "Liberator" -- indeed be "allowed" to become released by the PTB in Europe and free them from the Iron Fist of authoritarian EU Elites?
Possibly not. BTW, sorry to give you the bad news but Wilson has moved way way beyond his Liberator demonstration pistol.
If you buy his computerized CNC milling machine (around $1700 last I checked), you can finish your own AR-15 80% lowers (the registered part according to BATFE) in about 3 hours, all automated. You can use the same machine to make your own 1911 pistols. And a lot of other gun designs that are "real guns" and compatible with brand-name guns (AR-15 uppers, general parts for a variety of brand-name pistols, etc.).
And all that info hits the internet this month. And you don't even need Wilson's CNC device. With his specs in those files, any CNC milling machines can be programmed to produce the desired gun parts.
#20. To: Tooconservative (#19)
Wow...
And all that info hits the internet this month.
I'd be surprise if it does get released. And even when/if...I'd expect the specs to be tampered with.
I can NOT imagine a scenario where this info reaches desperate people. LIKE IN EUROPE....
Wait....but....maybe the PTB really DO want this info disseminated and the public to produce it like M&Ms. THAT would produce the chaos and anarchy that the PTB have fantasized about in order to declare their Martial Law.
(Ok, looks like I cracked The Code ;-)
#21. To: Tooconservative (#19)
And you don't even need Wilson's CNC device. With his specs in those files, any CNC milling machines can be programmed to produce the desired gun parts.
I'm a cynic to begin with...but this all seems too easy.
#22. To: Liberator, sneakypete (#21)
I'm a cynic to begin with...but this all seems too easy.
These guys aren't milling entire guns. They are only making the receivers (80% AR-15 lower receivers) and some Colt .45 1911 pistols. The unfinished receivers are a commodity part because it is when you finish a lower receiver that it is legally a firearm in America, and much the same overseas. That is when you are required to have an FFL manufacturing license and to issue serial numbers and keep records of your sales.
With Wilson's files and CNC mill, you can finish one -- or a thousand -- unregistered AR-15 lower receivers. Each lower takes about 3 hours to make. Then you buy a barrel, the upper receiver, the stock, the drop-in trigger group off the market, the same way all the AR-15 guys do already, choosing from thousands of different options available. They're just commodity parts after all and none has a federally-required serial number. Except the lower receivers. Look at your own guns for instance. You can always find the lower receiver because it must have the serial number on it.
Unregistered guns by the millions. All the way up to 50 caliber.
It's staggering, really. I can only imagine what someone like pete with a gunsmithing background could do with these modern programmable CNC milling machines.
#23. To: Tooconservative, sneakypete (#22)
These guys aren't milling entire guns. They are only making the receivers (80% AR-15 lower receivers) and some Colt .45 1911 pistols.
Ok, so where are the plans for the 20% of AR-15 or other components? Are they available as well?
#24. To: Liberator, sneakypete (#21)
If you don't want an AR-15, you can make a Colt .45 1911 pistol.
Or the most popular pistol around: the Glock 19 shooting 9mm ammo. Here's a vid showing how you make a Glock Model 19. This guy shows how to do it with a large industrial drill press instead of a Ghost Gun 2 milling machine.
#25. To: Liberator (#23)
Ok, so where are the plans for the 20% of AR-15 or other components?
Everything but the lower receivers are just generic parts. If you buy a commercial AR-15, say a Bushmaster, it will come with all the parts stuck on a registered Bushmaster lower receiver.
You can buy tons of upper receivers, trigger groups, stocks, barrels and all the other gear. From cheap to pricey, every brand name you can thing of. None of it can be traced the way a registered lower receiver can be.
There are some guns that could be produced entirely by these small CNC milling machines. That will be the next step. For now, all that is needed to upset the BATFE registration scheme is to evade the requirement to keep records of sales and serial numbers for lower receivers.
In this country, we don't register guns. We register the lower receiver of a gun. Perhaps that clarifies why Cody Wilson is so subversive. And have no doubt, he is subversive.
I can't imagine why Gatlin hasn't filled the sidebar with dire warnings about him. He's about a thousand times more dangerous than any libertarian political writer. Wilson is genuinely destabilizing and kinda dangerous. And he is a committed radical, very ready to go to prison for his vision of the future where every gay couple will protect their pot farm with untraceable machine guns. : )
#26. To: Tooconservative (#15)
He hasn't won just yet but they are proceeding to settlement in Wilson's favor.
"The parties expect to conclude the settlement on or before August 4, 2018." The settlement agreement does not yet exist. Proceeding in Wilson's favor to do what?
That's a win in anyone's book even if you don't like the result.
It is not a win until a settlement agreement is concluded which actually contains terms which could justify such a claim.
As the agreement has not yet been concluded, how do you know what it does? I would like to see what it says rather than depend on a partisan description of what the yet to be concluded settlement is going to say when concluded.
If you were party to a draft of an agreement and saw a one-sided press release about it claiming "This court victory settles one case," how might that affect your intent to proceed with the tentative settlement? Until something is filed with the court, there is a big nothing burger.
- - - - - - - - - -
5th Circuit Opinion of the Court (20 Sep 2016) at 4-6:
Defense Distributed’s files allow virtually anyone with access to a 3D printer to produce, among other things, Defense Distributed’s single-shot plastic pistol called the Liberator and a fully functional plastic AR-15 lower receiver. In addition to 3D printing files, Defense Distributed also sells its own desktop CNC mill marketed as the Ghost Gunner, as well as metal 80% lower receivers. With CNC milling files supplied by Defense Distributed, Ghost Gunner operators are able to produce fully functional, unserialized, and untraceable metal AR-15 lower receivers in a largely automated fashion.Everything discussed above is legal for United States citizens and will remain legal for United States citizens regardless of the outcome of this case. This case concerns Defense Distributed’s desire to share all of its 3D printing and CNC milling files online, available without cost to anyone located anywhere in the world, free of regulatory restrictions.
Beginning in 2012, Defense Distributed posted online, for free download by anyone in the world, a number of computer files, including those for the Liberator pistol (the “Published Files”). On May 8, 2013, the State Department sent a letter to Defense Distributed requesting that it remove the files from the internet on the ground that sharing them in that manner violates certain laws. The district court summarized the relevant statutory and regulatory framework as follows:
Under the Arms Export Control Act (“AECA”), “the President is authorized to control the import and the export of defense articles and defense services” and to “promulgate regulations for the import and export of such articles and services.” 22 U.S.C. § 2778(a)(1). The AECA imposes both civil and criminal penalties for violation of its provisions and implementing regulations, including monetary fines and imprisonment. Id. § 2278(c) & (e). The President has delegated his authority to promulgate implementing regulations to the Secretary of State. Those regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (“ITAR”), are in turn administered by the DDTC [Directorate of Defense Trade Controls] and its employees. 22 C.F.R. 120.1(a).The AECA directs that the “defense articles” designated under its terms constitute the United States “Munitions List.” 22 U.S.C. § 2778(a)(1). The Munitions List “is not a compendium of specific controlled items,” rather it is a “series of categories describing the kinds of items” qualifying as “defense articles.” United States v. Zhen Zhou Wu, 711 F.3d 1, 12 (1st Cir.) cert. denied sub nom. Yufeng Wei v. United States, –––U.S. ––––, 134 S. Ct. 365, 187 L. Ed. 2d 160 (2013). Put another way, the Munitions List contains “attributes rather than names.” United States v. Pulungan, 569 F.3d 326, 328 (7th Cir. 2009) (explaining “an effort to enumerate each item would be futile,” as market is constantly changing). The term “defense articles” also specifically includes “technical data recorded or stored in any physical form, models, mockups or other items that reveal technical data directly relating to items designated in” the Munitions List. 22 C.F.R. § 120.6
A party unsure about whether a particular item is a “defense article” covered by the Munitions List may file a “commodity jurisdiction” request with the DDTC. See 22 C.F.R. § 120.4 (describing process). The regulations state the DDTC “will provide a preliminary response within 10 working days of receipt of a complete request for commodity jurisdiction.” Id. § 120.4(e). If a final determination is not provided after 45 days, “the applicant may request in writing to the Director, Office of Defense Trade Controls Policy that this determination be given expedited processing.” Id.
In short, the State Department contended: (1) the Published Files were potentially related to ITAR-controlled “technical data” relating to items on the USML; (2) posting ITAR-controlled files on the internet for foreign nationals to download constitutes “export”; and (3) Defense Distributed therefore must obtain prior approval from the State Department before “exporting” those files. Defense Distributed complied with the State Department’s request by taking down the Published Files and seeking commodity jurisdiction requests for them. It did eventually obtain approval to post some of the non-regulated files, but all of the Published Files continue to be shared online on third party sites like The Pirate Bay.
Since then, Defense Distributed has not posted any new files online. Instead, it is seeking prior approval from the State Department and/or DDTC before doing so, and it has not obtained such approval. The new files Defense Distributed seeks to share online include the CNC milling files required to produce an AR-15 lower receiver with the Ghost Gunner and various other 3D printed weapons or weapon parts.
- - - - - - - - - -
Note what all Defense Distributed wanted to do and try to imagine that the Government, for no particular reason after winning in court, decided to settle and let Defense Distributed freely export worldwide, the means to produce a single shot plastic pistol, or other prohibited export items.
Now look at what Defense Distributed asked for in its SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT of 16 March 2018. They only contest the requirement for prepublication approval.
Defense Distributed Second Amended COMPLAINT (filed 16 Mar 2018) at 14-15:
PRAYER FOR RELIEFWHEREFORE, Plaintiffs request that judgment be entered in their favor and against Defendants as follows:
1. A declaration that Defendants’ prepublication approval requirement for privately generated unclassified information is, on its face and as applied to Plaintiffs’ public speech, null and void, and of no effect, as an unconstitutional Ultra Vires government action.
2. A declaration that Defendants’ prepublication approval requirement for privately generated unclassified information, on its face and as applied to Plaintiffs’ public speech, to include Internet postings of the Subject Files, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
3. A declaration that Defendants’ prepublication approval requirement for privately generated unclassified information, on its face and as applied to public speech, to include the Internet posting of files used in the production of arms of the kind in common use for traditional lawful purposes, including but not limited to the Subject Files, violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution;
4. A declaration that Defendants’ prepublication approval requirement for privately generated unclassified information, on its face and as applied to Plaintiffs’ public speech, to include Internet postings of the Subject Files, violates the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution;
5. An order permanently enjoining Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the injunction, from enforcing the prepublication approval requirement against public speech on privately generated unclassified information;
6. An order permanently enjoining Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the injunction, from enforcing the prepublication approval requirement against Plaintiffs’ public speech, to include Internet postings of the Subject Files;
7. Attorney fees and costs pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2412; and
8. Any other further relief as the Court deems just and appropriate.
Dated: January 31, 2018
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Assume arguendo that Defense Distributed wins complete freedom from prepublication approval and they publish something like the computer files needed to use a 3-D printer to produce a Liberator plastic pistol. I do not see where they have sought, much less could obtain, post-publication immunity from prosecution.
It may all depend on how one defines victory. Being free of prepublication restraint, relying upon self-restraint, and publishing the wrong thing, can have all one's toys taken away and land one in prison.
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#27. To: nolu chan (#26)
Yeah, yeah.
I think he's won.
We'll see before too long, won't we?
If he releases all his files on July 27, it pretty much will not matter what they decide to do after that anyway. Even if they nailed him for something, the info and specs are already available everywhere. And the files themselves are not all that large. A regular thumb drive would hold them all.
#28. To: Tooconservative (#27)
I think he's won.
What did he win? Immunity from the export law?
We'll see before too long, won't we?If he releases all his files on July 27, it pretty much will not matter what they decide to do after that anyway. Even if they nailed him for something, the info and specs are already available everywhere. And the files themselves are not all that large. A regular thumb drive would hold them all.
July 27 is before they have noticed the court of a settlement.
It would matter to the dumb jerk sitting in a cell, contemplating all of his toys that were taken away.
As long as he does not mind risking a million dollar fine and 20 years in prison, it's all good.
"Yeah, yeah" can be offered as an affirmative defense.
#29. To: nolu chan (#28)
We'll see.
#30. To: Tooconservative (#25)
I can't imagine why Gatlin hasn't filled the sidebar with dire warnings about him. He's about a thousand times more dangerous than any libertarian political writer. Wilson is genuinely destabilizing and kinda dangerous. And he is a committed radical, very ready to go to prison for his vision of the future where every gay couple will protect their pot farm with untraceable machine guns. : )
The thing is that most of us reading this and posting about it are gun nuts. We already have most of these guns anyhow,as well as others. We get excited because of this breakthrough we CAN build our own guns if needed if society collapses and lawlessness reighs,but the truth is you give me a brick and I can get a gun.
The far bigger truth is I already have guns,as do most of you.
Sooooo,WE are all getting excited because everyone will have the ability to make their own guns.
Big whoop. Most of them have no interest in owning guns. Not even if you gave them one. There are a LOT of people in this country who have never shot,or even held a real gun in their hands. Not because they couldn't,but because they didn't want to.
I agree this is a VERY big deal theoretically,but the reality is it won't make much difference because the only people in America today that don't have guns are people that don't want guns.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
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